Breath of Life
by MartialArtsDancer
Summary: Ladybug is forced to confront how much she relies on her partner when faced with a situation even her magic might not fix
1. Chapter 1

Title: Breath of Life

Prompt: Kiss and make it better

Characters: Chat Noir, Ladybug

Pairings: none

Disclaimer: Only the grammar mistakes are mine.

Dedication: For my Chaton

He wasn't breathing. The world seemed to slow around her as her brain fought to take in those three little words. Fought to take in the limp way his body just sprawled across the pavers of the walk way, fought to absorbed the stillness of his face and the blueness of his lips. It was like a horrible dream, the kind that usually ends with the person waking up to realize that none of it had been real. The kind that could be fixed with her father's chocolate chip cookies and a couple hours of mindless video game playing until she felt relaxed enough to slip back into sleep.

Except this wasn't a dream. She could feel the cold slap of the wind against her wet skin, could taste the blood in her mouth from her split lip, could hear the distant wailing of police sirens, and worst of all, she could see that he still. Wasn't. Breathing!

Like a light bulb being suddenly switched on her brain jerked back into action and she stumbled as fast as she could to her partner's side, ignoring the stinging burn on her knees when her legs suddenly decided to give out and she slid the last few feet to him. She grabbed his shoulder, shaking him urgently.

"Chat! Chat wake up!"

Shaking fingers probed at his throat, searching for even the tiniest flutter that would keep her world from falling apart. That would prove that her best friend and partner was not lying dead at her feet. A sob clawed its way up her throat as her fingers found nothing, and she shook her head hard enough that her pigtails lashed against her cheeks.

"Don't do this to me Chat. Please don't do this to me. Wake up!"

Desperate she held her breath and prayed to whoever might listen as she dug her fingers deeper into his throat, hard enough to leave gouges in the tender flesh with her finger nails. And her prayers were rewarded as she felt a sluggish and hesitant thump of a heart beat against her fingertips.

"Chat!"

Deserted by her usual grace she yanked him on to his back, hastily rearranging his tangled limbs as her brain raced trying to` remember the basics of CPR she had taught herself at the beginning of this business of being a super hero. First thing was first, she had to make sure his airways were clear. Two fingers tilted up his chin to open the wind pipe while another two pinched his nose closed. Pulling his mouth open with perhaps a little more force than was necessary, she sealed her lips over his and puffed out a quick breath, watching from the corner of her eye to see if it made it through to her partners starving lungs.

Again luck was on her side, and she let out a choked laugh of relief as his chest momentarily ballooned upwards before falling still and silent once more. Bringing herself up onto her knees, she folded her hands over top of one another on his chest and started the required compressions.

"Come on Chat, breath!"

Time seemed to slow once again. She didn't notice the cold wind or the mob of reporters trying to push their way past hastily erected police barricades. She paid no mind to the mystified Akuma victim begging to know what was going on. She didn't see the dark skinned girl with the tear splattered glasses crouched in the bushes, phone left forgotten but recording on her knee. All she felt was the snapping of his sternum under her compressing hands and how cold his lips still felt as she gave him another two sets of rescue breaths.

"Please don't go. I-I can't do this without you!" She fought to keep her breathing steady even as tears sluiced down her cheeks, falling in pattering drops like rain against the leather of his suit. Another round of compression's, words flowing from her mouth in an incomprehensible tide. She had no idea what she was saying anymore, but she held on to the insane hope that maybe if she kept talking, he'd wake up and respond with one of his impish smiles and some quip about having nine lives to help calm the terror that was clawing away at her gut.

"You have always been the brave one….I was going to give up that day at the Eiffel tower! I was so sure that destiny had made a mistake, because how could someone as pathetic and clumsy as me hope to save all of Paris! I couldn't even stand up to the class bully!"

Another round of breaths, pushing her own life giving air into his lungs, begging him to take the offering.

"But you…you with your stupid grin and your stupid puns…you believed in me! You kept fighting because you had faith that I would come. You helped me stand up to Hawk Moth and save Ivan because you told me I could!"

Another round of breaths, these ones as tremulous as the hope that was struggling to stay alive inside her.

"You keep me strong when things fall apart! You keep me sane when the pressure gets to be too much! I- I don't want to do this without you!" She pressed her mouth back to his, forcing every ounce of strength she had left into two more breaths. Barley managing to hold herself up, she murmured her next words against his lips.

"Please don't leave me alone…"

She pushed away to start another round of compression's, but had only managed to get half way through the required number when his body convulsed beneath hers, hacking coughs pushing bursts of water from his saturated lungs.

"Oh my God!"

Calling on hidden reserves of strength she hadn't known she had she pulled her partner into her arms, propping him up against her chest so that dirty river water cascaded down her back as her tears trickled down his. The world gradually came back into focus as her senses expanded one by one to take in details besides him, but she couldn't bring herself to care about any of it. She was physically and emotionally spent and all she could do was sit on the pavers of the river walk and rock them both back and forth while she sobbed his name like a prayer.

"M'ldy?"

"It's okay Chat…..It's okay now…" She whispered, tangling her fingers into the messy blond hair at the nape of his neck in an attempt to pull him closer and shield him from the world that only moments ago had threatened to take him from her forever. "I've got you."

"y'always do…."

She trembled as his breath tickled the side of her neck, and the smile she could hear in his voice was her undoing. Burying her face in his shoulder she let her tears wash away her previous terror as her heart joined beating in time with his.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Dilemma

Prompt: Kiss and make it better

Characters: Chat Noir, Ladybug

Pairings: none

Dedication: For my Chaton, and for everyone who reviewed.

The images from her cell phone had been uploaded, the video put through several different types of filters for everything from canceling out glare to boosting the color balance levels until every little detail was practically jumping off the screen. She had even run the new audio scrubbing system that Nino had given her to remove any superfluous background noise. It was by far the best work she had ever done, no contest.

So why couldn't Alya bring herself to hit the upload button?

With an annoyed huff she cycled back through it once again, casting a critical eye over every picture she had managed to get of the most recent Akuma attack. They were stunning, no question about it. But then again pretty much anything involving Paris' favorite crime fighting duo was spectacular. There could be little doubt that she was pretty much their biggest fan, well more specifically Ladybugs biggest fan. She had devoted an entire blog to discovering the identity of the superhuman female in the red and black suit, and through tireless work and more than a few hair raising moments of fear that she planned to never tell her mother about, she had managed to make a small name for herself on the internet as one of the premier authorities on Ladybug.

What she had here though, could take her and her blog so much farther. Police response to Akuma attacks had been getting rapidly faster, and while they knew better by now than to get involved in the actual fight itself they were quickly mastering the art of evacuating the battle zones and keeping people as far back as possible. After one particularly nasty attack that nearly involved a helicopter being thrown into city hall, any area with a fight became an instant no fly zone. As such none of the major news stations had gotten close enough to get any kind of decent footage.

But she had gotten in. No one ever payed attention to a silly kid when there were adult around to be taken seriously. Their oversight resulted in her getting a front row seat to the latest fight for Paris. As she clicked through her photos she couldn't help but marvel. Ladybug and Chat Noir truly were poetry in motion when they fought. All it took was a glance, the slightest nod or shake of the head, and they were off again, moving with such synchronicity that sometimes she wondered whether or not they could actually read each other's minds, as some fan theory's claimed.

Coming to the end of the photos she nodded, once again satisfied that they were as perfect as she could make them. Which left the video, the amazing spectacular video that was going help her gain respect as more than just a blogger, but as a real reporter. Because she had filmed more than just the Akuma attack, she had filmed Ladybug saving Chat Noirs life! This kind of exclusive footage was incredible, once in a life time!

So why was her pointer still hovering undecidedly over that stupid button!

She pushed away from her desk with a groan of pure frustration and started pacing around her room, furiously racking her brain for answers. She had done everything to make the video shine like the gem it was, but a heavy feeling in her chest, a feeling she was quickly learning to listen to, told her that something was off. Letting out another grunt of agitation she spun back to face her computer, tapping her chin. Perhaps what she needed was just to look at it from a different perspective, like from the angle of one of her viewers. That could reveal any editing errors at the very least.

Turning back around she snatched a pillow, ironically the ladybug shaped pillow that Marinette had made for her a few weeks ago, off of her bed and dropped back into her desk chair with a determined nod. Reloading the video to the very beginning, she hit the space bar with a sharp tap and sat back. Hugging her pillow to her, she did her best to empty her mind of everything else from before, trying to look at it as though seeing it for the first time.

As the fight started to play out across her screen, she couldn't help but the smile of anticipation that stretched across her lips, or the slightly envious sigh that followed. She couldn't help the tiny part of her that was jealous of them. She had always been a big fan of super heroes, the way they always seemed to just swoop in and save the day. What must it be like? To be able to fly across the rooftops as free as a bird? To have such speed and agility that nothing could hurt you? To have the power to stand up for those weaker than you?

But as the video rolled on through the fight the feeling in chest intensified, causing the smile to slowly slip and making her tighten her grip on her pillow for comfort. She found herself biting her lip as Chat Noirs struggles against the water that was trying to drown him slowed, winced and put a hand over her mouth at the way his body dropped limply when an attack from Ladybug nocked their foe back. Earlier she had been too high on adrenaline from the situation to notice the sickening thump his body made as it hit the hard and unforgiving ground. The heavy feeling slowly sank to the pit of her stomach as Ladybug turned around to call her partner and froze, looking at his slumped form with wide eyes. The raw terror that rippled over her idols face hit her like a punch to the gut, and she let out a quite whimper, pulling her legs up onto the seat of her chair and pressing her pillow to her mouth as she watched the Ladybug run to her friend's side and urgently try to shake him awake.

" _Don't do this to me Chat. Please don't do this to me. Wake up!"_

The heaviness churned in her stomach, leaving her feeling slightly nauseous. She was so used to seeing Ladybug as a strong, controlled figure. One who could command the mayor and the police force with little to no effort on her part, yet bring such comfort to victims of the Akumas. She was always cool, always graceful, always together. The girl on the tape in front of her was anything but, her every movement hurried and clumsy. Panic and fear soaking the words falling from her lips like poison. It made her seem so much younger, like she was not much older than Ayla herself. Certainly nowhere near the five thousand years she was supposed to be, according to the papyrus scroll at the Louvre.

She squirmed in her seat with discomfort at that thought. When she had found Ladybugs dropped textbook, she had been over the moon to think that her idol might have gone to school with her, that she could even possibly know who Ladybug was in her day to day life! But now? As she watched Ladybug start her compressions on Chat Noir, the thought made her cringe. How could someone so young possibly handle holding the life of every person in Paris in her hands? How could she seem so calm and collected all the time when the thought of that much responsibility made Alya want to run away and hide?

" _You keep me strong when things fall apart! You keep me sane when the pressure gets to be too much! I- I don't want to do this without you!"_

Tears welled in her eyes, blurring her view for a moment before slowly rolling down her cheeks. Ladybug sounded absolutely desperate, anguish and sorrow wrapped around every syllable. Swallowing hard, her eyes drifted down to rest on Chat Noirs still face. A shutter rippled through her body as for the first time, she took in the deathly pallor of his skin, made so much worse by the pure black of his suit. His face was completely relaxed, not a hint of his usual Cheshire grin or devil-may-care attitude.

She was ashamed to admit it, but until now she had always sort of overlooked Chat Noir. With his light hearted approach to most situations, his lame puns, not to mention the penchant for being knocked off of or into something with every Akuma they face, it had been almost depressingly easy to dismiss Chat Noir as not being as worthy of attention as Ladybug. Looking back now, she could see what a mistake that was. How many hits had the cat themed hero taken to protect his partner, or innocent civilians caught in the cross fire? How many times had he put his faith and his life in her hands and thrown himself whole heartedly into the fray to buy time, with nothing more than the hope that his lady would come up with a plan to save him if things went badly? Such actions had to take a tremendous amount of bravery, and for the first time she could see why Ladybug always insisted that she and Chat Noir were a team. His fierce, relentless style matched perfectly with her carefully calculated strikes, leaving any opponent they faced together reeling and unable to recover.

Sniffing she curled tighter around her pillow, only letting out a stuttering sigh of relief when Chat Noir jerked and began to cough up copious amounts of water. With a trembling hand she reached out and tapped her space bar, freezing the screen on the image of Ladybug curled tightly around her partner, holding him up even as she fell apart. Sitting back she pushed her face into the soft felt in her arms and quietly spent the next few minutes trying to stem the flood of her own tears. She had always been so caught up in the magic of it all, she had never considered the consequences. But Ladybug and Chat Noir... they were human. They had flaws and weaknesses, doubts and fears. Despite all of their miraculous abilities, they could still be injured. They could still be killed. And the loss of one would mean that the other would be left to fight on, completely alone.

She couldn't post this. It was… too personal. Something this raw, this real, did not deserve to be put on the internet for critics and fans alike to pick apart. Rubbing at her last few rouge tears with the back of her hand, she leaned forward and deftly dragged the video into her trash folder. That done, she leaned her elbow on the desk and propped her chin up on her fist, wonder what to do now. Sure she had deleted the evidence, but somehow it still didn't feel like it was enough. She wanted to help her city's heroes, do something that would show her support. But what? Her eyes fell on her web cam, and slowly a small smile worked its way onto her lips as an idea formed. Leaning forward she tapped the camera icon and waited for the circle of light to turn green.

"Hey guys, Alya here! Today I witnessed yet another amazing fight with our favorite heroes! I know you're probably all expecting some crazy out of this world video, but I'm afraid that for the first time, I am going to have to disappoint you. You see something happened today. Something thing big. Today, Chat Noir nearly payed for the protection of this city with his life, and it was only due to some quick thinking on Ladybugs part that he has survived to defend us another day. Something like that, deserves all of our respect. It doesn't deserved to be dragged around the internet for us to ogle at like some new exhibit at the zoo. It wouldn't be right. So instead, I am asking all my followers to leave some comment of support for Ladybug and Chat Noir. To let them know how much we appreciate all they do for us. That's all for now!"

Ending the recording with decisive click she quickly up loaded it before turning off her computer and crawling into bed. As she snuggled into her sheets she could feel the heavy weight from before lifting. What she had done probably was not the best thing to do as a reporter. It wouldn't help elevate her blog to any higher status. But it had been the right thing to do in the end. She had been able to defend her heroes. That, she decided as she slipped off to sleep, was better than any scoop could ever be.


End file.
